Fibre opening and cleaning machine



y 5 1964 c. NEUBAUER FIBRE OPENING AND CLEANING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Oct. 25, 1961 M y 1964 c. NEUBAUER 3,133,318

FIBRE OPENING AND CLEANING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2E 3 4 I l I 3 4 as m I :2:

I 1 1L M 1/ 33 iii;

y 1964 c. NEUBAUER 3,133,318

FIBRE OPENING AND CLEANING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25, 1961 s sheets-sheet sFig. 7

United States Patent FIBRE OPENING AND CLEANING MACHINE Curt Neubauer,deceased, late of Munich, Germany, by

Anita Neubauer, administratrix, Munich, Germany,

assignor to Rieter Machine Works Ltd., Winterthur, Switzerland, incorporation of Switzerland Filed Oct. 25, 1961, Ser. No. 148,306 8Claims. (Cl. 19-80) The present invention relates to a fibre opening andcleaning machine which is used for opening staple fibre material as faras possible to obtain individual fibres, and to free such material fromparticles of dust.

Knovm fibre opening machines have cylindrical mem bers which are coveredwith saw-toothed or card wire clothing and either co-operarte with oneanother or act in conjunction with nip points, for example with a pedalplate feed system, whereby the material to be processed is supplied.With these arrangements, the zones in which opening work is performedare always limited to small, basically linear regions of contact betweentwo or more cylinders or to the nip point co-operating with thecylinder. Therefore, those portions of the clothing which are actuallyoperating at any given instant amount to only a small fraction of thetotal available clothing-covered surface, which is for the greater partinactive, so that the outlay required in clothing-lined surface per unitof quantity of the fibrous material to be treated is very considerable,quite apart from the fact that an entire series of cylinders and nippoints are required for obtaining a sufficiently large total workingsurface toobtain a satisfactory degree of opening. 1

Machines for unravelling waste fabrics such as rags and the like arealready known which comprise one stationary and one rotating disc bothof which are fitted with widely spaced, thick, individual conical pointswhich engage in one another. The waste material to be processed isfed-in centrally, unravelled between the points, i.e. distintegrated,and is hurled away tangentially towards the outside. However, owing tothe clothing arrangement described, this unravelling machine is notonlyincapable of distintegrating tufts of fibres without damaging thefibres, but is also incapable of opening the tufts to approximately thestate of individual fibres since it is designed for unravelling work andnot for carding work.

Furthermore, the known unravelling machines do not have any cleaningzones since disintegrated or unravelled rags and the like are not yetopened to a sufficient degree for cleaning.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fibre opening machinewhich is of extremely simple construction and which avoids thedisadvantages referred to hereinbefore. Accordingly, the machineprovided by the invention comprises a housing with a central fibre feedaperture, a first annular card clothing within the housing, a rotor anda second annular card clothing carried by the rotor and situatedopposite the first clothing, both the said clothings havingfibre-opening elements which, as viewed in the radial direction, closelyapproach one another but do not engage each other. In order to bringabout an outwardly flowing current of air means may be provided toproduce a pressure drop between the interior and the periphery of theclothings.

There can be arranged near the fibre discharge region of the clothings,grid bars which extend transversely to the direction of fibre outflowand through which an axial current of air is conducted.

With the present invention, fibre opening is effected in a simple mannerowing to the fact that the material to be opened, assisted by the flowproduced by the pressure drop, follows a path of travel between thefibre-opening Patented May 19, 1964 clothings which approach one anotherand consist of sawtooth and/or card wire.

The machine has very considerable advantages over the machines whichhave hitherto been conventionally used for fibre opening. Thus, it makesit possible for the fibrous material which is to be opened to beprocessed in an uninterrupted sequence on its way from the centre to theouter edge ofthe fibre-opening clothings, and, where appropriate, topass through a plurality of clothing regions graduated from coarseclothing elements to fine clothing elements, so that fine opening isreliably obtained although the construction of the machine is keptsirnple. Furthermore, owing to the full utilisation of the availableclothings, the machine permits of a very considerable quantity outputwhilst being only of moderate dimensions and employing a high rotationalspeed. The assembly of the machine can be made extremely simple and theinterior of the machine be made readily accessiole by fixing the firstannular fibre-opening clothing in a forward part of the housing which isarranged to be swung open like a door. A current of air can be producedby blades on the rotor. The passage through which material can travelthrough the machine can be constricted or opened by adjusting thesetting of the fibreopening clothings thus permitting suitableprocessing of fine and coarse fibrous material. The finely opened fibreaglomerations impinge against the peripherally arranged grid bars owingto their high outflow speed, and will be separated from impurities atthese bars and carried away by the axial air current.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, and additional objects and advantages thereof will bestbe understood from the following description of an embodiment thereofwhen read in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a fibre-opening machine along theline 11-11 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 2 is an end view of the machine.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of the stationary annularclothing forming part of the machine shown in FIGURES 1 and 2,

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a cleaning machine which may beused in combination and series relation with the machine shown inFIGURES 1 to 3,

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are axial sectional views on a larger scale of'portionsof three modifications of opposed clothing rings for use'in the machineillustrated in FIG. 4.

The machine illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 has a two-part housing 1which comprises an inlet 2 which leads into a central aperture 3 of aring 4 fixed to the housing 1. Mounted at the end of a shaft 5 rotatablein two bearings in the housing 1, is a sleeve 6 and a rotor 7 whichcarries a ring 8. The sleeve 6 has an annular groove 9 in which is astationary guide ring 10 comprising a lateral stud 11 which engages in aslot 12 in a pivotally supported lever 13. The sleeve 6 has a bore 14with a keyway 15 and can be displaced along a key 16 mounted on theshaft 5 so that the position of the ring 8 and of the rotor 7 can beaxially adjusted to or from the stationary ring 4. In this way, the freearea of the passage between the two rings 4 and 8 can be narrowed orwidened to suit the kind oftextile material being processed. The opposedsurfaces of the stationary rings 4 and 8 are covered with fibre-openingclothing 17, for example saw-toothed wire, sector wire or card wireclothing. These clothings are fixed and arranged in the mannerconventionally employed with textile spinning machines. The clothings 17on the rings 4 and 8 may gradually approach each other in the outwarddirection and relatively coarse wires may be used close to the center'ofthe rings and relatively fine wires maybe used in the outer parts of therings. The thickness, height, pitch and spacings of the wires maygradually change from the inside to the outside of the rings, in orderto take into account the progressive opening of the fibres on their wayfrom the inside towards the outside. The teeth of clothings are notarranged in the axial direction from their fixing base, but are inclinedoutwardly i.e. in the direction of flow of the material, moreparticularly in order to prevent the fibres from becoming deposited inthe clothing. The rotor 7 carries blades 18 which produce a radial airflow between the clothings in the outward direction. The prevention offibre deposits in the clothing is also promoted by rings 19 (FIG. 3)having holes 20 through which air can pass. The housing 1 has, outsidethe rotor 7, an annular duct 21 to which an outlet pipe is tangentiallyconnected. A hinge 21 and a fastener 22 connect the part 23 of thehousing which carries the stationary ring 8 and is swingable about thehinge 21.

FIG. 4 shows a cleaner which may be used in combination with and inseries relation to the opener shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. Numeral 24designates a motordriven rotor provided with a ring 25 which is coveredwith a saw-toothed or flexible card wire clothing and which is situatedopposite a stationary section ring 26 with a small clearance amountingto about 3 mm., the said stationary ring being provided with a similarclothing 25. The stationary ring 26 is fixed to the machine frame 28 bymeans of a plurality of supports 27 distributed symmetrically about theperiphery. Outside the rotor 24 a relatively large number of verticalgrid bars 29 are distributed uniformly about the periphery of the rings.Bolted on the frame 28 is a hood 20 which is connected by means of asuction pipe 31 to a vacuum source (not shown). In the vicinity of thegrid bars 29, the frame 28 has apertures 32 and, in the vicinity of thebottom, passages formed by feet 33 for permitting air to be sucked infrom the room. A chamber 34 immediately outside the grid bars opens intoan armular waste-collecting shaft 35. A material feed pipe 36 leadsthrough the hood 30 to a central aperture 37 of the stationary ring 26,arranged concentrically to which is a fan wheel 38 mounted on the rotor24.

The detailed structure of the rings 25 and 26 carrying the clothing isshown on a larger scale in FIG. 5. Obliquely formed grooves 39, whichcan be circular or spiral in formation, receive the base portions of asawtoothed wire 40 of a coarser quality than the wire provided in theplane parallel portion 41. The covered rings 25 and 25' are fixed bymeans of bolts 42 to the rotor 24 and the stationary ring 25,respectively.

In the variant shown in FIG. 6, the rings 25 and 25 are covered withflexible card wire clothing 43, the wire elements being finer in a zone44 situated at right angles to the axis of rotation than in a conicalzone 45, in order to allow for the progressive opening of the fibres.

In the modfication shown in FIG. 7, a first conical portion 46 isprovided with saw-toothed wire 47 whereas in an adjoining, less markedlyconical portion 48 there is arranged a flexible card wire clothing whichis followed by a similar but finer clothing 49 which covers theremaining distance to the periphery and which is supported on a veryslightly conical annular surface.

The method of operation of the variant shown in FIG. 4 is as follows:

The cotton tufts which are to be opened and cleaned travel through thepipe 36 into the circle of action of the fan wheel 38 which produces aradial air current in the outward direction between the clothings 25 and25 and thereby conveys the fibre tufts outwardly through the narrow gapbetween the two clothings. As they pass through, they are opened to avery considerable extent by the carding work of the clothings which aredisplaced relatively to one another. After leaving the gap, the fibreagglomerations impinge owing to their inertia against the grid bars 29which are arranged at right angles to the direction of flow, where thedirt is separated as a result of the impact and passes into the chamber34 and then into the waste-collecting shaft 35. The fibres themselvesare engaged and carried away by the upwardly flowing air current afterimpinging against the grid bars 29.

What is claimed is:

1. A fibre-opening and cleaning machine comprising a housing with acentral fibre feed aperture, a first annular card clothing arrangedwithin the housing, a rotor arranged in the housing, a second annularcard clothing carried by the rotor and situated opposite the firstclothing, the two clothings having fibre-opening elements which, asviewed in the radial outward direction, gradually approach and becomenearer to one another, but without any overlapping and inter-engagement.

2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the opposite outermostportions of said fibre-opening card clothings as viewed in the radialoutward direction are parallel to each other with a small clearancetherebetween.

3. A textile fibre opening and cleaning machine comprising a housingwith a feed aperture, a first annular card clothing fixed within saidhousing and having fibre-opening elements, a rotor rotatable within saidhousing, a second annular card clothing fixed to and rotatable with saidrotor and having fibre-opening elements which extend from said secondclothing towards and close to said elements of said first clothingwithout engagement there with, and means placed in the center of saidrotor for producing a pressure drop between said first and secondclothings thereby to produce an outwardly flowing current of air.

4. A fibre opening and cleaning machine comprising a housing with acentral feed aperture, a first annular card clothing fixed inside saidhousing and provided with fibre-opening elements inclined in the radialoutward direction of flow of fibrous material through the machine, arotor movable within said housing, a second annular card clothing fixedto said rotor and provided with fibreopening elements inclined in saiddirection of flow, said elements of said second card clothing extendingclose to those of said first annular clothing without engagingtherewith, and means placed in the center of said rotor for creating apressure drop between said first and second clothings thereby to producea radial flow of air between said clothings.

5. A machine for opening and cleaning textile fibres comprising:

a housing with a central feed aperture,

a first annular card clothing with fibre-opening elements fixed withinsaid housing,

a rotatable second card clothing with fibre-opening elements arrangedinside said housing with its said elements extending close to saidelements of said first clothing without engaging therewith, and

grid bars affording passage of an axial air current and 'located nearthe periphery of said clothings and placed transversely of the directionof outflow of the fibres from said clothings.

6. A machine for opening and cleaning textile fibres comprising:

a housing having a central feed aperture,

a first annular card clothing having fibre-opening elements andincluding support means fixed within said housing,

a rotor within said housing coaxial with said first annular cardclothing, and

a second annular card clothing having fibre-opening elements andincluding support means fixed to said rotor,

said fibre-opening elements of said first card clothing being oppositesaid fibre-opening elements of said second card clothing and beingspaced therefrom,

said support means being provided with air passage means for passing anair current in a radial outward direction and including perforationsalfording outlet of the air current from said passage means in adirection parallel to the rotation axis of said rotor and into the spacebetween said fibre-opening elements.

7. A fibre opening and cleaning machine comprising a housing with acentral feed aperture, a first annular card clothing fixed inside saidhousing and provided with fibreopening elements inclined in the radialoutward direction of fiow of fibrous material through the machine, arotor movable within said housing, a second annular card clothin-g fixedto said rotor and provided with fibre-opening elements inclined in saiddirection of flow, said elements of said second card clothing extendingclose to those of said first annular clothing without engagingtherewith, and an means placed in the center of said rotor for creatinga pressure drop between said first and second clothings thereby toproduce a radial flow of air between said clothings.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 4 in which said elements of saidclothings are arranged in groups of elements of equal fineness, theelements becoming increasingly finer with increasing distance of thegroups from the center of the machine.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS31,154 Daniels Jan. 22, 1861 1,802,249 Goldberg May 8, 1929 FOREIGNPATENTS 512,766 Belgium July 3 1, 1952. 22,752 Germany June 21, 18837,681 Great Britain of 1838

1. A FIBRE-OPENING AND CLEANING MACHINE COMPRISING A HOUSING WITH ACENTRAL FIBRE FEED APERTURE, A FIRST ANNULAR CARD CLOTHING ARRANGEDWITHIN THE HOUSING, A ROTOR ARRANGED IN THE HOUSING, A SECOND ANNULARCARD CLOTHING CARRIED BY THE ROTOR AND SITUATED OPPOSITE THE FIRSTCLOTHING, THE TWO CLOTHINGS HAVING FIBRE-OPENING ELEMENTS WHICH, ASVIEWED IN THE RADIAL OUTWARD DIRECTION, GRADUALLY APPROACH AND BECOMENEARER TO ONE ANOTHER, BUT WITHOUT ANY OVERLAPPING AND INTER-ENGAGEMENT.